Goodbye Sweet Dreams: Roky Erickson and Horror Rock

Roky Erickson‘s first new album True Love Cast Out All Evil [Deluxe] in about fifteen years is out. Building on years of lo-fi tape recordings with layered production, new vocals, and modern backing from Okkervil River, the disc sounds polished and new while revisiting some great songs that should have been recorded years ago. John Lawman might be a twenty or thirty year old song, but I had only heard a muddy live version before now.  I like the way he barks out the vocal on the new album.  The softer, acoustic material contrast with his earlier hard rock/psych material well.  But I still can’t stop playing the The Evil One (plus one) over and over again.  Great to hear him back in the studio, albeit after a long hiatus.  I’m still hoping for a big box set with more 70’s/80’s material.  Maybe a studio version of Song To Abe Lincoln?

My best new album/new artist discovery of the past two years has to be Roky Erickson and the Aliens The Evil One. The tracks recorded in the late 70’s have been released on numerous albums (I Think of Demons, The Evil One, The Evil One [Plus One], etc.) and each song is superb both in construction and execution.  (The Evil One (Plus One) has the broadest collection of songs from the sessions).  Addendum: The followup from 1987 Don’t Slander Me is good, too, but not really as dark as the first.

Many of the Evil One tracks are inspired by classic horror films- The Alligator people, I Walked With A Zombie, Dracula.  Allusions to insanity and demons abound.  He sounds like a lo-fi Texan Ozzie Osbourne backed by The Ramones with a lead guitarist.  Actually, the Aliens had guitars and an electrified autoharp played by Bill Miller, imbuing the songs with an other-worldly sound.  Bill Miller also featured in Cold Sun Dark Shadows, a lost Texas psych classic.

Beer Wars

In visiting numerous pubs in the UK, I found the predominant draw to be real ale. I talked to a bunch of people in pubs while I was there and realized the conclusion I had come to before leaving home was correct: in the US, we have virtually nothing like real cask ale which is, thankfully, abundant in the UK. It seems that in the sixties, beer companies tried to do away with it in favor of keg draft systems, an event halted by a grassroots movement called CAMRA or Campaign For Real Ale.  This organization assures the availability of real ale and properly-poured imperial pints.

The documentary Beer Wars identifies the American dilemma.  Thanks to prohibition and subsequent corporate domination post-prohibition, some 95% of the beer market here is controlled by big breweries that mass produce light lagers.  In other words, like a great many things in America, beer has been harmed by both a fundamentalist fad and unchecked greed and monopoly.  Ironic, since you would think the US would have had more variety and opportunity in the market than Britain.

All is not lost, however.  American breweries have multiplied exponentially since the early 1980’s, and today there are more beer varieties made here than anywhere else in the world.  Microbreweries, which do technically exist in the UK as well, have found a profitable niche market in the US.  I first began to notice that (the best) local shops were creating beer aisles organized much in the way a wine selection would read, with categories for various imports, domestics, styles, and flavors.  As the documentary shows, small breweries and a few re-imagined old names are clawing at the market and have a monopoly on quality to most tongues.

The counter-weight to this development, and where the corpratocracy again looms are the reactionary big business campaigns to buy out, crush, and exclude newcomers from the market.  The documentary profiles several small brewery owners, for example from Dog Fish Head.

George Orwell’s London

I have begun re-reading most of Orwell beginning in 2010.  For many of the earlier novels, I had not picked them up since college in 2002.  I think I re-read 1984 in the past five years, but my recollection of Burmese Days was pretty spotty.

I’ll be leaving for the UK the day after tomorrow today for a short trip, mostly in London.  I plan on walking around as much as possible despite the cold weather and visiting many pubs.  In looking for new places to visit in London, I came across a great website:

Andrew W. MacDonald’s George Orwell London Photographs site

Basically, someone has taken the time to photograph relevant George Orwell locations so that others may check them out without having to thoroughly research the geography.  I have particular interest in some of the pubs mentioned, as they are still under the same names today.  Cross-referenced in The London Compendium: A Street-by-street Exploration of the Hidden Metropolis by Ed Glinert, several of the pubs are profiled, such as the Marquis of Granby, frequented not only by Orwell but the poet Dylan Thomas as well.  (I will reference the book again in future posts when I return–I picked it up the last time I was in London in 2003, and for one the spot historical facts, it remains superb).

Beer Advice: Fuller’s ESB Review

Some things elusive manage to stay that way by hiding in plain sight.  In this case, my long search for the perfect bitter brought me to rediscover one that I had all but forgotten about.  Fuller’s ESB has been around since the early ’70’s.  I recognize the logo, the look, and the taste from many years ago.  Fuller’s ESB seems to be a staple at many British pubs, where selections of draughts typically always include a bitter ale.

Bitter ale does not seem translate well to the US market for some reason.  Even Fuller’s ESB seems hard to find.  It turns up occasionally in a pricey six-pack of bottles on the dusty import shelf.  Recently, I happened upon it on draught at the Half Door Pub and I was hooked solid.  The thing was, I knew this ale well from years before.  I had simply neglected to look for it in the US.

Making Up For Lost Time

Fuller’s ESB proved the bitter British ale I have looked for with all the expensive imported microbrews and organic ales.  I have made some rewarding discoveries in the meantime, but rediscovering this ESB locally has taken the urgency out of my search.  Now I can relax; I have a measuring stick by which to judge.

Fuller’ ESB tastes (no surprise) bitter, tart, with an after taste that evokes apples.  The cask variety is 5.5% ABV, while the bottles are 5.9%.  I immediately picked up a six-pack of bottles for about $11.49, which is getting up there for a sixer but well worth it.  Poured into an imperial pint glass (like the ones Guinness is served in) and the taste is comparable to the draught pint.  The ale should not be served ice cold; rather, shoot for just below room temperature to simulate ideal pub conditions.

Books I Read in 2009

Here are the books I read in 2009.  I jotted these down from memory mostly so anything before June or so I probably omitted something.

Fiction:

Larry Brown: Fay, The Rabbit Factory, Father and Son, Dirty Work

Charles Bukowski: Factotum, Post Office, Ham On Rye, Women

Steve Earle: Dog House Roses: Stories

Ernest Hemingway: A Moveable Feast

Jack Ketchum: The Girl Next Door, Off Season, Old Flames (novella)/Right To Life (novella), Offspring

Stephen King: Duma Key, Just After Sunset (short stories)

Robert McCammon: Speaks the Nightbird

Cormac McCarthy: The Road

Martin Page: How I Became Stupid

Chuck Palahniuk: Pygmy

JD Salinger: Franny and Zooey

John Steinbeck: East of Eden

Colin Wilson: Space Vampires

Non-Fiction:

Herbert Benson MD: The Relaxation Response

Roy Porter: London: A Social History

Rick Steves: Travel As A Political Act

Collections:

The Best American Short Stories 2007, edited by Stephen King & Heidi Pitlor

The Best American Short Stories 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie & Heidi Pitlor

Beer Advice: St. Peter’s India Pale Ale Review

St. Peter’s India Pale Ale.  This ale has been my elusive white whale ale for the last few months. I knew she was out there. She waited, taunting. Appearing online and on various distributor’s inventories locally but never willing to fully surface. After my positive experiences with St. Peter’s Organic English Ale and Cream Stout, this was a natural obsession. I have always gravitated towards IPAs as a rule.

The back label explains that British beer makers originally designed IPAs with extra hopps and usually a higher alcohol content to survive the long sea voyage to India, where British soldiers and sailors would then consume the product. This was a British export, brewed uniquely different from the domestic ales.  To me, the history adds to the appeal.

At first pour, this is a darker colored ale than St. Peter’s Organic English variety, with a frothy head and a wheaty aroma that is consistent with their other varieties. The extra hopps are quite discernable before the first sip, and the initial taste is sharp, tart, almost grapefruity–the way an IPA should taste. Having tried many American IPAs, I can say this one has a flavor that is different from all of them.  As I mentioned, I had a hard time finding this locally.  I have seen it for sale online but the thought of paying shipping costs on top of the already steep per-bottle cost led me to wait patiently for it to turn up on a store shelf which it did (eventually).

Bob Dylan: Last Thoughts on Must Be Santa

So forever 2009 will be known as the year Bob Dylan released a traditional Christmas record.

I must preface any mention of Christmas In the Heart by stating for the record that I have always hated Christmas albums.  I generally attribute that to a dislike of Christmas songs, although I have made exceptions over the years, most notably for Merry Christmas, I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight by the Ramones.  If you like Dylan, especially newer material,the album is worth a listen.  There were songs I skipped because I have heard them a million times, but I did notice some lyric changes here and there, perhaps returning to long abandoned original lines.  The album sounds mostly very traditional-there are no bursts of distorted guitars, urban beats or synth to be found.

This week, Itunes announced Dylan’s Must Be Santa as its Single of the Week. In viewing the video and hearing the song, I immediately wondered if the president names were part of the original lyrics or if Dylan added them for some reason.  Then I read the SNS interview, where Dylan explains that the arrangement they used for the song came from a version by Brave Combo.  Brave Combo seems to have added the president names, which is quite clever really how they are intersperced with reindeer from the traditional lyrics.  Good to see they got credit in the interview.  I would also mention that their live performance of the tune looks like a good time.

Get out there and polka.

Reading Notes: Chuck Palahniuk – Pygmy

Chuck Palahniuk employs contemporary prose developed during the nineties and perfected over the past decade. The simple, conversational prose style builds upon minimalism, with Andy Warhol shots of pop culture and consumerism thrown in. The result is 1/4 Kurt Vonnegut, 1/4 Stephen King and 1/2 I’m not sure what–maybe a little Douglas Coupland.  His work has been generally described as transgressional fiction, and includes forays into horror and science fiction, all rife with social commentary.

Pygmy (2009) may be the first Engrish novel I have ever seen. While I am skeptical this style might endure for long, it never hurts to be the first guy to put out a bestselling novel written in any given way. The narrator, “operative me” or “agent 67” comes from a nameless ethnic background and nameless, ostensibly third world communist country, come to America as an exchange student/terrorist. Told from his perspective, we hear harsh, biting social commentary on American society. Pygmy comes from a vague, near-future that is identical to our reality in the minute details of life.

The book comes as a worthy follow-up to Choke or Fight Club–novels that put Palahniuk on the literary map on at least a cult level.  As I side note, I often marvel at how subversive a book as Fight Club made for such a well-known, popular film despite being toned down for the big screen.  I know people who love the film but probably have seldom read the actual book and miss most of the subtle greatness contained in there.

Pygmy works as a vehicle for social commentary.  Palahniuk lampoons American culture but does so from a flawed, indoctrinated protagonist’s perspective.  Rather than a hateful condemnation of Western culture, this dark comedy shines a light on our inconsistencies and excess but lacks nihilistic conclusion in favor of redemption and strange romance.

Palahniuk’s writing may be divisive–his graphic depictions of all subjects taboo often go for the gross out, and he pulls few punches in his descriptions and implications.  But as a commentary on current society in our era, I consider his books required reading.

Author’s website: http://chuckpalahniuk.net/

Beer Advice: On Location, Wisconsin with Leinenkugel’s, New Glarus Spotted Cow

Leinie's Classic Amber

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was in the state of Wisconsin, making it my task to try some local favorites. On Friday, I visited the Leinenkugel’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls. Having never taken a brewery tour before, I don’t have much to offer in comparison, however. This is a good-sized regional brewery which has grown to export to 48 states and likely numerous other countries. The reasonably sized facility includes a bottling plant and the Leinie’s Lodge, which is a museum, gift shop, and sampling area.  The meager sample sizes give you a chance to try various brews, but you cannot actually buy beer there so after that it was off to a liquor shop where I picked up their sampler pack.

The tour dragged a bit–I must say I am more concerned with the ends rather than the means when it comes to beer–but I appreciate the history.  Unfortunately, construction halted access to the bottling area and the entire plant shuts down on weekends so the place seemed dully quiet.

Exterior mural

The Beers:

I prefer the Classic Amber or Fireside Nut Brown (the latter is a limited seasonal brew), though they offer some eight or so varieties.  At this point, they only make lagers which are pasteurized after bottling (this seems to be a standard bottling practice but was mentioned on the tour specifically).  In any case, these bottles need to be poured into a pint glass to open up the flavor.  Bottle drinking several varieties (Red Lager, Oktoberfest, Creamy Dark) on Thanksgiving, I am certain I did not appreciate them the way I did with the Classic Amber in a good pint glass a night later.  Of course, I was probably also suffering from overeating.

New Glarus Spotted Cow appears in various state stores and bars.  I had this in a restaurant (draft) and later on the couch (bottles).  This is a cask-aged ale, with a faint fruity undertone of apple or peach.  The website describes it as a farmhouse ale with hints of corn.  Tastes like a quality microbrew with a little sweetness.  The draft variety really hits the spot, but the distribution is somewhat limited.  We actually served this from kegs at my wedding; it stands up against many beers with bigger reach–I’d take one of these over a Sam Adams most days of the week.  The brewery website and the recycled paper labels on the bottle make you think organic, local brew; a pretty accurate description really though I would pick up a sixer of this ale if they sold it at home or most anywhere else.

Back to the gym…

Why I Buy Used: The Lucrative Airport Book Market

In traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, I was reminded how lucrative the retail new book market is.  Airport book stops offer the latest at near list prices.  Some chains now have buy and return policies where you get back half the purchase cost, but half of a $27 hardcover can be better spent on a couple pints at the airport lounge.  I vowed this year not to make any such impulse buys on printed books and have relied instead on used buys or library loans (I did purchase a few discount paperback Jack Ketchum novels, but otherwise avoided any new purchases).

There are so many books out there that you cannot hope to buy everything you read, at least not at the retail prices of new books.  While some people probably do this, I can’t think of a worse expenditure of money, unless of course you read one or two books per year and/or need financial motivation to finish what you start–sort of like paying for a personal trainer so your pocket reminds you to get off your ass and work out.

Can you gift a used book?  I have not done so but would not mind being on the receiving end at all.  Yes, it seems that despite the marketing push–the precisely stacked cubes of new books in Borders and the Wal-mart/Amazon price wars–the home library lacks the esteem given to it in the past.  Guests and casual observers will be more interested in what’s on your DVD shelf or Ipod; few outside academic and literary circles will give a damn about your bookshelf.  Books on one’s shelf do not carry a lot of water in Modern America.

I received the 2007 edition of The Best American Short Stories as a gift back in, well, 2007.  Stephen King co-edited the collection, and though it’s been on my nightstand for a while, I finally just now read the book.  Typically, I have shied away from actively exploring many contemporary authors.  Between reading random books and covering authors that I should read for various reasons, I have come to depend on word-of-mouth and certain online resources to find new reading material.  I had never heard of William Gay before this collection, for example, but his crystal meth tragedy in original prose style will likely send me out after more of his work.

Now, I realize I will be playing catch-up for some time, delving into the many writers I have missed.  The short fiction format itself proves elusive, for the best stories seem to languish in literary magazines with often limited distribution until or unless they appear in a collection later on.  I don’t have the time to track every issue of every worthwhile literary magazine (and I suspect most people would never fret about it), but at least this medium exists to scoop up some of the best at year’s end: http://www.bestamericanshortstories.com/.

Best of all, most of these collections are on Amazon Marketplace for $ .01 or something reasonable like that.